KATHLEEN Wright, 60, has been ordered to stay away from a Dundee bowling club until she is 90.

A COMMONWEALTH Games bowls umpire who slapped a fellow player has been banned from her club for 30 years.

Kathleen Wright, 60, has been ordered to stay away from Craigie Bowling Club, in Dundee, until she is 90 after striking a 26-year-old male player who, she claims, called her and her husband insulting names.

Kathleen, from Broughty Ferry, has been a member of the club for 23 years.

She admitted she deserved a suspension but says the sanction relates to an ongoing sexism row.

Although the drink-fuelled incident happened in mid-July, Kathleen was only told of her punishment earliier this week.

She said: “The guy who was involved was doing a lot of name-calling and I went over and gave him a little slap.

“I did it and he kept saying, ‘Hit me again’. When I did, all his friends laughed at him.”

Kathleen said the man then got angry and threatened to knock her to the ground.

She added: “I was called to a disciplinary board at the club.

Kathleen Wright with some of her bowling memorabilia

“I think they gave me such a big suspension because I irritated the members by making a complaint that there was not equal opportunities at the club. I’ve seen a lot worse things than that happen there.”

Kathleen, who has been a licensed bowls coach since 2005, taught the man she struck when he was a youngster.

She has represented Craigie in outside competitions and was twice part of the winning side in the Scottish triples competition.

Kathleen had planned to take a break from the club while she was an umpire at Glasgow 2014 and hasn’t been back since the incident.

She added: “I’m the only qualified umpire at the club and the women’s team have played in lots of national tournaments. We pay the same fees for membership, so our games should be considered as important as the men’s.”

Her husband John, 56, who is a curator at the club, now plans to quit Craigie over the incident – after more than 30 years as a member.

He said: “At the time of the incident, I was the only one there who wasn’t drinking and it escalated quickly.

“Kathleen would have accepted a three-month ban but after this I don’t really want to be a part of any bowling club. Things have turned sour.”